A Question of Flaws
by MagicSwede1965
Summary: Christian's niece makes a life-altering discovery. Follows 'Going Home Again'.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _A quick word in regard to chapter 3 of the previous story: it was pointed out that I had apparently posted it twice. My disk document has only one copy, but I recall having had trouble posting it due to library-computer restrictions, and FF decided for some reason to duplicate it. For those of you who have me on alert—if you get a notice of a posting of that chapter somewhere down the line, it will just be a reposting notice. Meanwhile…here's something new. Thanks as always to my readers and especially my reviewers!  
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§ § § -- February 3, 2003

The two sisters stood in the royal suite of Lilla Jordsö's nine-century-old castle, staring at each other, one with tears in her eyes, the other with shock in hers. At last, Queen Gabriella Katarina Susanna Enstad Lindell said in a slightly shaky voice, "Don't worry, Anna-Kristina. It's not the end of the world, nor even the family line."

"But it must horrify you," said Princess Anna-Kristina Enstad, her blue eyes somehow getting even larger. "To know that this is so final…"

Gabriella shrugged fatalistically. "There's nothing I can do about it. Stina, you and Magga had better make an appointment with Dr. Salomonsson as well."

Anna-Kristina blanched. "I don't know…"

"You must," Gabriella said stoically. One of her tears broke loose, but she seemed not to notice it slowly sliding down her cheek. "I have told Elias."

"What did he say?" Anna-Kristina asked.

"He hasn't," Gabriella replied, looking a little bleak, and a second tear followed the first one. "But the announcement must be made, and soon. And then you will have to send Uncle Christian an e-mail so that he can update the royal website. He'll know how to say it so that it's tactful and not melodramatic, and if not, Mr. Roarke and Aunt Leslie can help him. But it must be done. Stina, go to Dr. Salomonsson, before I'm forced to order it of you. You need to know if it's true of you also, and so does Magga."

"But we've already announced my engagement to Prince Carlono," Anna-Kristina said a little maniacally. "No, Briella, let me hope for a little while, I beg you…"

Gabriella peered at her curiously. "You're my older sister. We've told each other everything, Stina. How close have you and Carlono been?"

Anna-Kristina bit her lip, harder than she had meant to, and exclaimed softly in pain. She focused on her sister and shook her head. "I wouldn't allow more than kisses, Briella. But they…he…"

Gabriella lifted a hand. "It's all right, Stina." They stared at each other, then both burst into tears and fell into each other's arms.

§ § § -- February 4, 2003 – Fantasy Island

"_Herregud,"_ said Christian in a stunned voice from across the library, and Leslie looked around in surprise. She'd been about to go back out to make the bed.

"What's wrong, my love?" she asked.

Christian turned to her and extended his hand, and she immediately came to him, peering uneasily at the computer screen. Christian stood up and hugged her hard. "That damned spice," he muttered savagely. "It's created havoc yet again."

"Christian, what are you talking about?" Leslie persisted, staring up at him in alarm.

He released a loud frustrated sigh. "The family has made two official announcements. For the one, Anna-Kristina and Prince Carlono have finally gotten engaged…which of course should be happy news…but for the other, it's been discovered that Gabriella will never be able to bear a child." He closed his eyes and she watched him worriedly.

"What about the spice? What's that got to do with it?" Leslie asked.

"This isn't something that went out in the official announcement," Christian told her, sounding very tired. "It's being kept strictly within the family. But the reason Gabriella can never have children is her dependence on amakarna since her infancy. The stuff has somehow reacted with something in the family DNA and rendered her sterile."

"Oh my God," Leslie breathed, and Christian nodded. "How did they find out?"

"Marina," Christian said, his head drooping. "She felt it was only prudent that the castle physician have access to all the knowledge she had about amakarna, and gave him detailed information. Evidently there have been a few cases of amakarna-induced sterility in the past, but according to Marina's information, they were very rare—and it happened only in human women. That is, human, as opposed to whatever Marina's—and your father's—people are and wherever they come from."

Leslie stiffened in his arms. "If it's true of Gabriella, then it's probably also true of Anna-Kristina and Margareta. What about them?"

"They're being tested," Christian said. He opened his eyes finally and studied her. "My Rose, you and Mr. Roarke will have to help me find some way to put this on the site that avoids all mention of amakarna. Count LiSciola liked to pretend that the spice was very popular all throughout our country, but in fact his only _jordiska_ customers were the last four kings to hold the throne, as well as all three of Arnulf's daughters. And it was never revealed that they took the spice; so I can't make any mention of it when I update the site."

Leslie nodded. "I think Father'll be of more help than I will," she said and shuddered. "My God, it's incredible. I only suspect I can't have children…but your niece knows it for a fact. What a way to have my own problems kicked into perspective."

She and Christian looked at each other, and he smiled slightly. "Oh no, my darling. Two years of being married to you and I'm still not ready to share you with a child, so don't get any ideas." Leslie laughed, and was relieved to see Christian chuckle along with her. He hugged her again and gave another long sigh. "If Arnulf had known about that, I'm sure he never would have given his girls that spice. There was no way to know until now. His and Kristina's daughters were the first girls born in line for the throne since the LiSciola family introduced the spice to ours. I have a very strong feeling that Anna-Kristina, Gabriella and Margareta will be the last Enstads who ever take it."

Leslie pulled sharply back from him, stricken with a thought. "Then that raises two questions. First, who'll get the succession, especially if Anna-Kristina and Margareta turn out to be incapable of having babies too? And second, is there any way to prevent the family from hooking Gabriella's eventual successor on amakarna?"

Christian's mouth twisted with a momentary rage. " 'Hook' is exactly the word, my Rose, that's perfect. Well, it depends on Gabriella's choice. To begin with, Arnulf may one day have posthumous grandchildren via adoption, but those children can never inherit the throne. It's part of the monarchic rules, written into Lilla Jordsö's original constitution and therefore absolutely irrevocable by anyone, ever. The successor must be a blood relative, to keep Ormssvärd's dynasty alive. That means that either Carl Johan's grandson or Anna-Laura's grandchild-to-be will be chosen, for it's up to Gabriella to decide."

Leslie nodded. "I see. How old is Matteus now?"

"Nearly fifteen months," Christian said.

"Then it's too late to get him started on it," Leslie said, seeing hope spark in his eyes at that. "Father told me that once a human infant passes its first birthday, the ability to tolerate amakarna disappears."

Christian kissed her. "That's an incredible relief, my darling, thank you for that. Why don't you answer this one and let Anna-Kristina know." He released her and indicated his chair, and she settled into it, peering at the waiting message on the screen.

"This is in _jordiska,"_ she said and grinned at him. "You'd better either start teaching me how to at least read it, or else translate."

"Someday I'll teach you," Christian said with a wicked glint in his eye, "just as soon as I find myself wanting to do something on our days off other than making love to you." She playfully clocked him in the gut, and he groaned and doubled over as if she'd driven a fist into him, making her burst out laughing.

"Come on, Mr. Incorrigible, quit playacting," she chortled, catching his grin. She reached out then and caught his arm. "Christian, my love, you don't think that if Gabriella were to choose Cecilia's baby, she'd insist on seeing that he or she was given the spice?"

"I don't know," said Christian, "but I intend to do all I can to try to prevent that." He grabbed the chair in front of Leslie's computer and pulled it over to sit beside her. "Quickly, send a reply to Anna-Kristina, tell her what you just told me, and then I'd better check the news wires online before I make any changes to the website."

‡ ‡ ‡

At about the same time, Mateo Apana was idly checking the site where he usually got the day's news when he was at work, absently slicing through envelopes with a letter opener as he did. His eye roamed over the various headlines and stopped abruptly on one that read, "Princess engaged." Alerted, he clicked on this and waited for the story to come up, setting aside the envelope and letter opener to concentrate.

His stomach began rolling with shock as he read. Princess Anna-Kristina Enstad, the story said, had finally become officially engaged to Prince Carlono Bartolomé of Arcolos, and the wedding was tentatively scheduled for that summer. There was a photo of Carlono and Anna-Kristina together, her arm through his, both smiling warmly into the camera. Mateo studied the pretty face, thinking she hadn't changed much since their one and only meeting two years beforehand just after Christian and Leslie had been married.

He'd deliberately pushed her away from him then, even though her guileless and heartfelt declaration of love for him had hit him in a way he'd never dreamed. He could remember two or three brief relationships before his narcolepsy had become severe enough to frighten off potential girlfriends, but they hadn't touched him in quite the way this sweet, naïve princess had done. He'd hated to turn her away, but he hadn't felt he'd had any choice. What girl in her right mind would want a narcoleptic with a limp? She'd only consider him a burden and resent having to take care of him. It had hurt worse than he had ever imagined to see her eyes frost over, the day she'd seen his limp and learned of his narcolepsy, and to hear her agree in her most regal tone that she should look elsewhere for the love she wanted. He'd let her walk out of his life, believing it was the best choice for them both.

And Mateo had continued to believe it, even while keeping a very sharp eye out for any and all news of Anna-Kristina. He checked the Enstad family website often, looking for news of her, perhaps even personal messages from her to her people as her sister the queen sometimes did, and as time had passed he'd somehow fallen quite deeply in love with her. It was a sucker punch to hear that she'd at last let that Arcolosian prince talk her into marrying him. It might be best for Anna-Kristina, but that didn't mean the news didn't hurt him badly. Unable to help himself, he reached out and touched the screen, as though he could touch her face through it, and shook his head. _Goodbye, my Anna-Kristina,_ he thought. _I love you. Make sure he makes you happy, please._

"Hey, Mateo," Jonathan Ichino suddenly called across the room. "Did we get another payment from the pineapple plantation? I'm about to make a trip to the bank and their latest installment's due."

Mateo started violently and looked over at Jonathan, but Jonathan seemed not to have noticed. He was gathering checks and dropping them into a small pouch preparatory to leaving for the bank. "Let me look," he finally said and forced himself to check return addresses on the envelopes. But his eyes inexorably returned to Anna-Kristina's smiling face on his computer screen, and he had to look away before the stinging in his eyes could become something much worse. He clenched his teeth and deliberately closed out the news website, stoically pulling himself back together.


	2. Chapter 2

§ § § -- February 10, 2003

"You wish to…what?" exclaimed Carlono's voice over the phone.

"Break our engagement," Anna-Kristina said flatly. She'd cried all she could possibly cry; now she felt empty of everything. It made it much easier for her to do what she had to do. Carlono would never want her now.

"But…_cari mie_…you've barely accepted my proposal!" Carlono protested. "It took me more than a year to get you to say yes. Now, a week after you do, you are saying no again? Why do you do this to me? Do you hate me so?"

"I don't hate you," said Anna-Kristina. "I just can't marry you, Carlono. It wouldn't be right. I'm sorry, but it's all over between us. Please find another…please be happy." She hung up before he could protest any further or ask any more questions. She knew it was the coward's way out, but at the moment she didn't care. There wasn't really anyone else she could turn to. Her father was dead, and since his passing her mother had sunk into a deep, dangerous depression that had proven to be untreatable. The family had eventually been forced to put Kristina in a care facility, but in their darkest moments they knew she was dying in inches, most likely of a broken heart. Anna-Kristina thought she knew exactly how her mother must be feeling. Her own heart had been broken, so badly that she'd never been able to piece it back together enough to find the sort of love she knew Carlono deserved. But she had caved in to his persistent and repeated proposals of marriage, thinking that at least she could be secure in his love.

Not anymore, she thought now. It would be impossible for them to marry after what she had just learned. Just like Gabriella, she and Margareta were sterile, due to their having taken amakarna since they were babies. Carlono would find her hopelessly flawed; he'd be unable to accept her inability to bear children.

She needed solace, in the absence of her parents and in the face of her latest and final rejection of Prince Carlono. There was only one place left for her to go. Anna-Kristina pulled out two suitcases and began to frantically pack clothing into them, at the same time making a series of telephone calls to arrange flights. Then she made one final call to Fantasy Island, to the main house, and begged Roarke to arrange for a charter-plane pass to be waiting for her at Gate 18 in Honolulu International Airport. He agreed without asking questions, even though she could hear the trace of curiosity in his voice that he couldn't quite hide, and wished her a safe trip.

By the time she reached Fantasy Island she was exhausted and wallowing in her misery; it was the eleventh of the month now on the other side of the International Date Line. It was late afternoon and the sun was casting long shadows across the plane-dock clearing when the princess stumbled onto terra firma. There was a driver waiting to take the new arrivals to their hotel rooms, and he recognized her and bowed. "How may I assist you, Your Highness?" he asked.

"Please take me to my Uncle Christian and Aunt Leslie," Anna-Kristina requested, collapsing wearily into a seat.

"As you wish, Your Highness. Are they expecting you?"

"No, but take me there anyway," she said. The driver nodded, helped the others with their luggage, and then took the rest of the group to the hotel before driving Anna-Kristina to the Enclave. She took in the modest two-story fieldstone house with its gambrel roof, the lush green lawn, the riots of flowers growing along the front, the stained-glass window in one of the upstairs rooms, and found herself amazed and impressed at the same time. It wasn't a large house, but it was very pretty.

"This is Mr. and Mrs. Enstad's home, Your Highness," the driver said.

"I'll tell them I'm here," Anna-Kristina said, "if you'll bring my suitcases." She got out of the car and started across the lawn, soaking in the warmth of the tropical climate and feeling hope burst to life within her for the first time. She rushed the rest of the way to the door and pressed the bell.

A moment later it opened and Leslie peered out, her blue eyes going very wide. "Oh, my God! Christian, my love, come see who's here!" she called over her shoulder.

"Hello, Aunt Leslie," Anna-Kristina said softly, with a tremulous smile.

Before Leslie could reply, Christian came into view behind his wife and reacted in shock, his hazel eyes popping and his mouth falling open. _"Herregud_, Anna-Kristina, what are you doing here?" he exclaimed.

Anna-Kristina burst into tears, and Christian and Leslie looked at each other in surprise, confusion and worry. Then Leslie reached out and took their niece's hand, pulling her inside and bringing her back to the living room while Christian accepted the suitcases from the driver and closed the door. "Come on in here and sit down," Leslie urged, settling Anna-Kristina onto the sofa. "What brings you around the world like this, and what on earth is the matter?"

Christian put Anna-Kristina's suitcases down at the entrance from the foyer to the living room and came to join them, regarding his niece with amazement. "Not a word from you that you were coming," he said, not without affection. "Quite typical of you."

"You'll never stop teasing me, Uncle Christian, will you?" she said through her tears.

He grinned. "No, I probably won't. Now for heaven's sake, _Kattersprinsessan_, what brought you here—and why the tears? I don't suppose this has to do with Gabriella's little revelation of last week."

Anna-Kristina nodded. "She insisted that Magga and I be tested too. All three of us are sterile, Uncle Christian. Magga doesn't care, but when Briella told Elias, it shocked him so much that they still haven't talked about it. I'm afraid she'll lose him. And I…" She sniffed hard and scrubbed at her tears. "I called Carlono and told him I can't marry him."

"You _called_ him to tell him that?" Christian demanded incredulously, taking a nearby chair and leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I can just imagine what he must have thought of that. What did he say when you told him why?"

Anna-Kristina bit her lip and hung her head, unable to meet his or Leslie's gazes any longer. "I didn't," she admitted with some shame. "I only told him I can't marry him and hung up the phone before he had a chance to ask why."

Leslie and Christian looked at each other again, and she put a hand on Anna-Kristina's shoulder. "Don't you think he deserves to know?" she asked.

"Does it really matter? I'm flawed now," Anna-Kristina said bleakly, meeting Leslie's gaze with newly streaming eyes. "I can't have children, and I know Carlono would never want me. Besides…" She broke off and let her weeping take over again, not sure she wanted to explain any further.

But Christian said, "Besides, what?"

Anna-Kristina stubbornly shook her head, and Leslie reached over and patted his knee. "Let it go for now, my love. She's just gotten here and I'm sure she's worn out, not to mention upset. I think the best thing for her is to get a good night's sleep." That made Anna-Kristina inexplicably break down into wailing sobs, making Leslie blink and stare at her in startled surprise. Christian grinned a little ruefully.

"We'll have to feed her a sedative," he observed. "She'll never fall asleep in the state she's in. I'll handle that if you'll get the futon set up for her." They'd bought this recently in concession to an unexpected emergency of sorts, when Brian and Lauren Knight had had to fumigate their house for termites and needed a place to sleep for two nights. It had actually been fun, between their playing various card games, drinking wine and chatting, and making a sort of party of it. They'd placed the futon at the back of the living room near the French doors to the patio, where anyone who slept there could catch the sound of the ocean in the distance at night.

Leslie nodded. "Okay…see if she's hungry too, would you? I don't think it's good for her to try to sleep on an empty stomach, especially if she has to have medication."

Christian rose. "True. Well, then, Anna-Kristina, what do you think? We had a light supper not half an hour ago, and it isn't much—just some of Mariki's lobster salad for sandwiches, and some soup, and a little wine to go with it. Do you feel like eating?"

Anna-Kristina looked up at them, registered their startled looks, and realized she must look pretty frightful in her current emotional state. "Maybe a sandwich."

"That's fine," Christian said. "No wine for you, though, if you're having a sedative, and I think you should. You're too distraught. My Rose, what's in the refrigerator?"

"I think she ought to have some orange juice," Leslie mused, crossing the room to the little half-bath located beside the laundry alcove. "That's probably the healthiest thing for her to have…some Vitamin C and like that." She glanced back for Christian's nod and smile, returned the latter, then slipped into the bathroom to look for sheets in the tiny linen closet therein. Christian turned to his niece.

"Well," he said in _jordiska_, "for all that it's completely unexpected, it really is good to see you, _Kattersprinsessan_. A shame it's under such sad circumstances, but maybe we can work things out tomorrow. Did you get any sleep on any of your flights?"

Anna-Kristina shook her head. "I couldn't," she mumbled. "All I could do was try not to cry. _Herregud_, Uncle Christian, no one's ever going to want me, now that I can't have children. I'll never find anyone who…" She broke down again, and Christian sat beside her, gathering her into his embrace as he had done so many times throughout her life.

"Calm down, Anna-Kristina," he said, quietly but firmly. "You'll make yourself sick if you keep going like this. And believe me, you and your sisters aren't the only ones who have had that sort of news. Many people have to deal with it, and they usually find some way to do so. I know it's hard news to receive, and it's all right to cry. But don't lose yourself in thinking it's the only thing that makes you attractive to a man. I've already had to reassure Leslie a few times on that score."

Anna-Kristina looked up at him. "Is Aunt Leslie—?"

"We don't know," Christian said, glancing at Leslie as she emerged from the bathroom and headed for the futon with some sheets. "But that isn't the real issue. I've made it as clear to her as I can that I love her whether she can have babies or not. And you'll find a man who can say that to you as well, Anna-Kristina, believe me. Not all men are looking for a breeder." She stared at him in wide-eyed shock at the word, and he grinned and winked, making her giggle slightly. "Good girl. When you find the man who wants you for yourself, and not for your childbearing abilities, then that's the man you want to marry. Now…wait here a few minutes, and I'll get you your sandwich and orange juice, and while you're eating I'll try to find something to help you sleep." He switched back to English. "Leslie, my Rose, do you know if we even have any sleep aids in this house?"

Half finished making up the futon, Leslie paused to watch him heading for the kitchen. "I don't know. I'm not even sure which one of us last needed one."

Christian laughed. "Neither am I! All right, then, I'll just look around. This is quite the way to conclude our weekend, I must admit." Leslie laughed agreement.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Anna-Kristina said faintly, her voice very shaky.

Leslie abandoned the futon for a moment to come and sit beside her again, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "Honey, believe me, you're not bothering us. It's a big shock to get that kind of bad news. And we know you probably didn't feel as if you had anyone else to go to, did you?"

Anna-Kristina shook her head. "No…you're right. Mamma's in such bad condition now, she doesn't respond to us when we go to see her. I think she knows it's us, but she doesn't care. She's become so ill since Pappa died. A lot of the time, it's Aunt Anna-Laura who steps in when we need someone to give us advice…even Briella asks her for it."

Leslie nodded. "Well, don't worry, you can stay with us as long as you need to, okay? Christian and I both have to go back to work tomorrow, but if you need anything, just call the main house and we'll do what we can for you. Right now—oh, perfect timing, my love." Christian had just returned with a sandwich and a glass of orange juice, which he handed to Anna-Kristina. "Right now, you eat, and then if Christian can find a sleeping pill, you take that and get some rest."

" 'If', indeed," Christian said humorously. "Don't eat too fast, Anna-Kristina." He leaned down long enough to drop a kiss on Leslie's lips, then headed for the half-bath.

Anna-Kristina swallowed some of the juice and took a bite of the sandwich, her eyes widening. "Did Uncle Christian say Mariki made this?"

Leslie grinned and nodded. "Yup! Mariki's always cooked more food than we could eat at one meal, so we've started taking home a lot of the leftovers. Saves us quite a bit of grocery money. Your uncle's started researching the idea of setting up a branch of his company in London, and possibly Santi Arcuros as well, so we've started saving up for the trip to Europe later this year. I'm going to be using my entire month's vacation in one shot." Anna-Kristina smiled a little.

"You'll stop to visit us, won't you?" she asked.

"Of course," Leslie assured her. "We wouldn't miss it. You finish up and let me get that bed made for you." She patted Anna-Kristina's shoulder and arose, and Anna-Kristina watched her aunt cross the room. There was no question in her mind that, of the three women her uncle had been married to, Leslie was far and away her favorite: much warmer and friendlier than Johanna had been, and more of a comfort and a family member than Marina. And, completely unlike either Johanna or Marina, she was deeply in love with Christian, which made all the difference. Even if Christian and Leslie couldn't really do anything to help her, they were a source of comfort, and she was glad she'd made the impulsive journey to Fantasy Island. Tomorrow was soon enough to think about things.


	3. Chapter 3

§ § § -- February 12, 2003

All four telephone lines were ringing when Christian arrived at work the next day, and Julianne, Mateo and Jonathan were all occupied, so Christian picked up the last line with a roll of the eyes. He himself rarely answered the phone and found it unusual to have the lines so busy. "Enstad Computer Services. This is Christian, may I help you?"

"Oh my goodness, my love, you're answering directly," Leslie's voice said with a laugh. "Must be busy. It just occurred to me to ask—did you check with Anna-Kristina to see if she wants to make an official announcement about breaking off her engagement to Carlono? I wasn't sure if she really meant it, or if it was the heat of the moment because of the news the doctors gave her."

"Oh, no, I didn't," Christian said, "but something tells me she does mean it. You know how long it took her to finally decide to accept, and then as soon as she heard this, she backed right out again. Why do you ask? Is she upset again?"

"She was still asleep when I left the house," Leslie said. She had gone in a little later than Christian, who'd caught a ride into town with Grady on his way to check the Hardings' post-office box and take Brianna to school. "I just figured, we're going to have to deal with it sooner or later, so I thought I'd check with you."

"I see," said Christian. "Well, I'll call her in a couple of hours or so and see if she's awake and how she's feeling. Don't worry, my darling, she'll pull through this. She's naïve, but she's very strong and stubborn. She just needs a chance to rest and pull herself together a bit, and she'll be ready to face the world again in another day or two. It's how we've always had to be, as far back as I can remember, ever since the media age began. We're too publicly visible to be able to indulge ourselves for long, and that will have its bearing on her, so she won't drown in her self-pity. And if she tries, I'll put a stop to it."

He grinned at her laugh. "I'd hate to hear the names she'll call you in that case. Well, okay. Tell everybody over there I said hi, and have a good day, okay?"

"I'll do my best," he said humorously. "You as well, my Rose. Tell Mr. Roarke good morning for me. Talk to you later." She acknowledged, and they traded goodbyes and hung up. Sighing, Christian moved behind his desk and noticed that Julianne, at least, had wound up her call and was typing fast and furious on her computer. "Problem?"

"Just trying to put in an emergency order for computer parts," Julianne said. "Drat the pineapple plantation anyway! They really ought to be more careful who they hire. They took some big brawny bruiser off the last cargo ship to come in here, some nutball who turned out to be an escapee from a prison in Kiribati, and he recognized another worker over there and tried to kill him. They got into a fight in the office and damaged three computers. Honestly, Boss Prince, sometimes I wish you had competition just so we could drop them as an account…they really drive me insane."

Christian began to laugh in spite of himself. "Having heard that story, I'd almost agree with you. They do always pay promptly, though, which is probably their only redeeming factor. Ah, _herregud."_ He dropped heavily into his chair and raked one hand through his hair. "I wonder if I'm going to survive this week."

"How come?" asked Julianne, looking up. Mateo hung up as she asked this and registered Christian's arrival and worn-out mien.

"You look quite tired, Christian," he remarked. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I _am_ tired," Christian admitted. "Anna-Kristina appeared on our doorstep very much out of the blue yesterday afternoon, and she was so upset that even after I found sleeping pills for her, it was almost midnight before Leslie and I were able to go to bed. We didn't get very much sleep, since at some point Anna-Kristina awoke crying and needed even more solace. She's very distraught. Just broke her engagement with Prince Carlono, but that isn't the real problem. Moreover, I doubt she's told us everything. I'm of half a mind to ask Mr. Roarke if he has a spare bungalow just so Leslie and I can get some proper sleep tonight."

Julianne tilted her head sympathetically; Jonathan finished his call and tuned in as his sister asked, "Does it have something to do with Queen Gabriella not being able to have kids? They must be really close if she's that unhappy about it."

Christian sighed gently. "It'll come out soon enough. Not only does Briella have that problem, so do Anna-Kristina and their sister Margareta. But even that isn't the entire issue, and I don't know what the rest of it is. She hasn't told us."

"So how long is she staying with you?" asked Jonathan. "I mean, if she's gonna be here for awhile, you might have a lot of sleep to catch up on when she finally leaves."

Christian eyed him. "It worries me to realize that you could be right. In any case, while I'm thinking of it, I'd better contact Gabriella and ask her if she's made a decision yet about the succession. Jonathan, Julianne is going to have to go to the pineapple plantation later to make some computer repairs, and I'd appreciate it if you'd go with her. I'd feel better if there were two of you there. Just make certain you stay by a telephone so you can call here in case something goes really wrong."

"Aw, I'll just call the cops," Jonathan said, grinning. "I heard they arrested some gorilla out there yesterday for trying to kill somebody. No problem, Boss Prince."

Christian half-smiled and pulled up his e-mail account, rapidly composing a message to Gabriella in _jordiska_ while Julianne made a call to put in her order and Jonathan picked up a ringing phone line. Only Mateo sat in stunned silence, staring in Christian's direction but not seeing anything around him.

_She's here!_ he thought. _Anna-Kristina is right here on the island, and she's no longer engaged to that prince from Arcolos! I must see her…but how?_ He swallowed nervously and tried to focus his attention, but it wouldn't stop wandering. He dared not confide in anyone, not even Christian—after all, though Christian was Anna-Kristina's uncle, he was also Mateo's boss, and it just didn't feel seemly to Mateo. But he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Anna-Kristina; there was no telling how long she'd be here.

Finally he decided to go to Roarke. He had known Roarke for many years, had worked for him for quite a few of those years, and had seen a number of other employees go to him when they had some pressing problem that seemed unsolvable. Maybe, at the very least, his former employer would have some suggestions he could avail himself of.

‡ ‡ ‡

Roarke was alone in his study, working at the desk, when there came a knock on the door. "Come in," he called absently, signing a form and folding it to slide into an envelope. He heard footsteps in the foyer and looked up in time to see Mateo Apana step down into the study. "Good afternoon, Mateo! It's been quite some time since you were here last. What may I help you with?"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Roarke, it's very good to see you again," said Mateo, coming to the desk and shaking hands with Roarke as the latter stood up. "I…thought perhaps I might speak with you, if you have some time to spare."

"Of course, Mateo, please sit down," said Roarke. "Would you like anything?"

"No, I just had lunch, but thank you all the same," Mateo replied, taking one of the chairs. Roarke resumed his own seat, and Mateo shifted nervously in his before hesitantly meeting his former employer's gaze. "This isn't easy for me to speak of, Mr. Roarke. I've never told anyone in the last two years…not a soul knows about this. And I didn't feel right speaking of it to anyone else. You see…this involves Princess Anna-Kristina."

"Ah, I see," said Roarke. "Tell me what you can, Mateo, at your own pace."

Mateo frowned a little and looked away. "You may recall that I met Anna-Kristina about two years ago. The first time I saw her was at Christian and Leslie's wedding reception. She was very bright and lively and energetic, very graceful on her feet, with a smile for everyone. I was at a table with a few of the others I used to work with when I was in your employ, and we had been talking, but when I saw Anna-Kristina I was intrigued in spite of myself. It had been a long time since I had been interested in a woman. You realize, of course, that because of my condition, I'm not exactly a woman's ideal candidate…"

Roarke smiled faintly. "Not all women would believe so, but please go on."

"Yes, well…" Mateo cleared his throat. "We never spoke that evening. It didn't take so long before I decided it was only another passing fancy, for she spent a great deal of the party dancing with Prince Carlono, from Arcolos. He had come with most of the rest of the Arcolosian royal family, I think, including Queen Michiko. They looked quite good together. I remember envying Carlono for his dancing ability. There was a time when I very much enjoyed dancing with a woman. My limp prevents that now.

"But perhaps ten days later, I suppose, Christian and Leslie dropped into the office, and they had her with them. I was very surprised to discover who she really was, that she was Christian's niece. She seemed nervous, but I did notice that she was watching me, and I was surprised at that as well. I had thought she had eyes only for that prince. It made me wonder what she wanted with me. We had lunch together and talked a bit, and then she made it very plain to me that she was attracted to me and wished I had asked her to dance that evening. If only I could have…but she hadn't seen either my limp or my narcolepsy. It was a minor miracle I didn't suffer a sleep episode while I was speaking with her.

"I knew she deserved better than a narcoleptic with a limp. Furthermore, she is a princess, and I'm merely an ordinary man with little to recommend him to anyone. She looked directly at me, and somehow I knew she was in love with me and was probably going to declare herself. As much as it hurt me to do it, I turned her away.

"Later, just before closing time, she returned, looking for Christian and Leslie. I knew that if she were ever going to be successfully diverted, that was the time…and I deliberately walked to the door while she watched me. I knew it was only right. But even now, I still remember the shock of seeing her face…she looked as if someone had slapped her. I turned away from her to let us out and lock up, and that was enough time to convince her that I was right and she must find what she wanted elsewhere. I let her walk away from me, and I told myself over and over again that it was best, but deep inside I didn't truly believe it.

"Since that day, Mr. Roarke, I've found that she touched me after all. I knew there was nothing I could do about it, but I still hungered for news of her. If Christian had heard from her and mentioned it, I hung on every word. I looked every day for news of her. Each morning I check the royal family's website to see if there's some message from her. Last week I learned that she had at last agreed to marry Prince Carlono, and I thought my world had ended. I tried to say my goodbyes to her then, but it hurt more than I could ever have thought possible. No one else knows of this, Mr. Roarke—not even Christian. How could I tell him? He's my boss—it just wouldn't be proper." He blew out his breath and sagged back in the chair, trembling. "Now I understand from Christian that she is here on the island. He mentioned that she broke her engagement with the prince, and that apparently she is…unable to bear children, but I don't understand the connection between the two. In any case, hearing she called off the engagement gave me hope. The only problem is that I wasn't sure where to turn. I don't think she'll wish to see me."

Roarke was quiet for a moment or two, absorbing the long narrative; he was a little amazed at Mateo's sudden propensity for speech, but knew full well that strong emotion was driving him. Love, especially, could make people do things they never thought themselves capable of. "I will admit that I myself don't know the entire story," he said slowly. "As a matter of fact, I learned from Leslie only this morning that Anna-Kristina appeared unexpectedly on their doorstep last evening. She didn't tell me much, but she did advise me of what you just mentioned—the broken engagement and her extreme upset over her having just learned that she cannot bear children. Leslie says that that very inability precipitated Anna-Kristina's decision not to marry Prince Carlono."

"I see," Mateo murmured. "I only wonder if…" He stopped himself, looked up and smiled faintly. "Well, perhaps something will happen. I dare not suggest seeing her myself, you understand. I'm sure she wouldn't be interested. Whatever she may have felt for me has undoubtedly long since died away. If I thought I had any chance, I would take matters into my own hands, but she's still a princess and I'm still a commoner. And I still have the same afflictions I had two years ago." He sighed and arose. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Roarke. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"It was no bother at all, Mateo," Roarke assured him. Mateo smiled again, nodded at him and made his way out; Roarke settled back in his chair, thinking.


	4. Chapter 4

§ § § -- February 12, 2003

Anna-Kristina rolled over in the futon and woke at last, feeling a little groggy and very heavy-hearted. Everything came back to her immediately and she closed her eyes again, wishing she could just sleep the rest of her life away. It seemed as if everything in her life was going wrong: her father's death, her mother's grave illness, her failures in love and now her inability to ever have a baby. She was only thirty years old, but she felt as if her life were over, as if there were nothing left to live for.

In the distance she heard the piercing call of a peacock and let her mind drift to more mundane things, such as what it was like for her uncle to live in this beautiful tropical place. There was a strange bird that had been calling at regular intervals throughout the night, a melancholy call that had brought back Anna-Kristina's misery afresh and made her wake up sobbing somewhere around midnight. She knew she'd robbed Christian and Leslie of the sleep they needed, but they'd been very good-natured about it and had even stayed with her till she'd calmed down. The sleeping pill Christian had finally found for her had at last taken full effect and knocked her out for the rest of the night; now the house was completely silent, and she supposed Christian and Leslie had gone on to work. It felt strange to her to be able to sleep in her summer pajamas in February. How had Christian adjusted, she wondered? He must find it unbearably hot here during the summer. At this time of the year, though, it felt good, as if her bones were thawing out from the long, harsh _jordisk_ winter. She sighed softly and let herself relax, supposing there was nothing better for her to do than go back to sleep. What else was there?

Then the phone rang and she sat up. It was probably Christian, but she wasn't quite sure of that; she didn't know how many phone calls her aunt and uncle tended to get during the day. She waited through the four rings and the recorded greeting; then the machine clicked. "Anna-Kristina, it's your uncle…are you awake yet? How are you feeling?"

She leaped off the futon and sprinted for the phone as soon as she heard him say her name, and grabbed it as he started to speak again. "Good morning, Uncle Christian."

Christian laughed on the other end. "Morning, nothing! I had lunch with Leslie and Mr. Roarke nearly two hours ago. Don't tell me you just woke up!"

"I did," she admitted. "What time is it?"

"There's a clock in the kitchen," he said, and she took the cordless living-room phone to the passthrough where she could see the clock in question. It was somewhat past two, and she gasped.

"_Herregud,"_ she said. "I can't believe I slept so long."

"I can," Christian said. "Between the sleeping pill and your exhaustion, you needed it. It was the best thing for you. How are you feeling right now?"

"I feel dead inside," Anna-Kristina said, hanging her head. "I wish I could sleep the rest of my life away."

She heard Christian grunt on the other end. "None of that, Anna-Kristina Maria Linda Karina. I know it's a hard blow to take, but it certainly isn't the end of the world, nor the end of your life. You can have another day at the most to rest a little, but you know how it is with us. I've contacted Briella and she's told me to go ahead and post an announcement about the succession on the website. What about you? Leslie called me this morning and asked me if you had decided about announcing your broken engagement."

"Go ahead and say what you like, Uncle Christian," Anna-Kristina said tiredly. "I don't care, really. If Prince Carlono sees it, that's all right…he'll know he's free to find someone who can be the mother of his children. And that _is_ important, Uncle Christian, believe me. Children are very important in Arcolosian society. Carlono told me once that the royal family has had a history of problems with childbearing—miscarriages and stillbirths and high infant mortality. He always made it plain that he expects to become a father. When he finds out I'm barren, he'll have no trouble moving on."

"I daresay that's a rather callous attitude, but far be it from me to dissect the mindset of Arcolos' royal family," Christian said through a sigh. "Ours I understand, peculiar though it may be sometimes. All right, I'll update the site with your announcement as soon as I'm able to get to it. I haven't worked on it yet since I want to do all the updates at once. Look, the real reason I called is that Mr. Roarke has decided to have us all over for dinner at the main house this evening. Do you have any appetite at all?"

"Not very much," Anna-Kristina said. "Maybe you should give Mr. Roarke my regrets. I just don't want to do anything, and I certainly don't want to see anyone."

"You're going to have to see Leslie and me at the very least," Christian pointed out with a touch of humor. "After all, you're in our house."

Anna-Kristina swore energetically, and he burst out laughing. "Sometimes I wish I could hit you, Uncle Christian! I don't want you trying to make me feel better!"

"Too bad," Christian retorted relentlessly. "Anna-Kristina, you're thirty years old; you're a grown woman, no longer a little girl who depends on her uncle to make everything right again. I'm not capable of fixing all your problems. We can give you a temporary refuge, my dear niece, but the solutions have to come from you—and you know I've told you that before. No, I won't give your regrets to Mr. Roarke. You're coming to dinner with him and Leslie and me, whether you like it or not. Get yourself dressed and have some orange juice, even if you don't eat anything."

"Suppose I don't want to? You can't hand down a royal order to me. You decided not to be a prince anymore," she said snidely.

Now it was Christian who cursed. "Damn it, Anna-Kristina, don't try my patience! This has nothing to do with royal orders. This comes from your uncle, who happens to be fourteen years older than you and knows better than you! Get yourself dressed and have a glass of orange juice, and when Leslie and I return home from work, we're going to change clothes ourselves and then take you back to the main house with us for dinner. So I warn you now, if you haven't dressed for the occasion, then everyone on the island is going to see you at the dinner table in your pajamas, because you will be there, _finis._ Do as I tell you—this discussion is over. We'll see you in a few hours." He didn't wait for her response but hung up on her; she blinked at the click in her ear and stared at the phone for a moment before breaking the connection and replacing it. She must have caught her uncle on a bad day, she thought a little uneasily; she'd heard him lose patience to some extent on many occasions, but never really lose his temper, at least not with her.

With a heavy sigh she found the orange juice in the refrigerator, then opened a series of cabinet doors till she found the one that contained the drinking glasses. She stood near the window sipping her juice, watching with surprise when a school bus came down the lane and dropped off a little girl with pale-blonde hair, who ran up the lawn across the street and vanished into the graceful A-frame house there. Anna-Kristina wondered who her aunt and uncle's neighbors were, then wished she could be that little girl's age again, and stood there letting her tears fall soundlessly.

In Amberville Christian muttered another curse and rested his head in his hand. At the moment only he and Mateo were in the office; Julianne and Jonathan had gone down to the pineapple plantation. From the back of the room where Mateo had his desk, he heard his manager's voice ask, "Christian, are you all right? Is some client in your home country giving you trouble?"

Christian looked up and smiled apologetically. He had, perhaps instinctively, conducted his phone call in _jordiska_. "No, it's only my stubborn niece," he said, shaking his head. "Honestly, there are times when I feel more like her father than her uncle, and perhaps more so now that her father's dead. At least, for heaven's sake, she's awake and out of bed finally. Never mind whether I'll survive this week. I think the question now is whether I'll survive the day." Mateo chuckled, and Christian smiled wryly and put his attention back to a repair project from which he'd been taking a short break.

A few minutes later the bell on the door jangled and Christian looked up, then arose, brightening. It was Leslie. "You're a welcome sight for these sore eyes, my Rose."

She stopped beside the desk and studied him in surprise. "Uh-oh. You look as if someone ran you through a washing machine. Are you all right, my love?"

"I suppose I will be," Christian murmured. "Come around here, my darling. I just called Anna-Kristina, and that girl…"

"Oops." Leslie grinned sympathetically and came behind the desk, returning his hug. "Is she finally awake? I called the house once before lunch, but there was no answer."

"She's out of bed, at least—she had to get up to answer the phone," Christian said. "I told her to get dressed, and she tried to argue with me. She's already showing signs of withdrawing, and I simply won't let her do it." He closed his eyes, turned his face into her hair and breathed deeply. "I love you," he whispered, then pulled back and smiled questioningly at her. "What brings you around here?"

"I'm off duty for the day," Leslie said. "If I loiter around here and keep you company, is it going to bother you? Should I just go on home?"

Christian growled playfully, "Not without me, you don't." She giggled and gave him a squeeze, and he grinned back. "Anyway, I'm not sure you could handle Anna-Kristina; she's in a rebellious mood, and you'd think I of all people could deal with that." He looked around and spotted Mateo, who smiled at them before unexpectedly slumping in his chair, abruptly sound asleep. _"Herregud," _Christian murmured, "he'll be mortified when he wakes up."

"He'll be fine," Leslie said. "He always is. The last time Father and I saw him, he had a sleep episode right there in Father's study, and we both kind of panicked. When he woke up, he insisted we stop fussing over him, and actually got upset enough about it that it broke through that impenetrable emotional mask of his."

Christian nodded. "I've seen it happen on a number of occasions myself. I know it embarrasses him, but we try to make light of it, and that seems to be all right with him. Ah, welcome back to the world, Mateo," he joked, seeing Mateo lift his head.

Mateo grinned reluctantly. "My apologies, Christian," he said, as he always did, then shook his head hard and sighed. "I have a dinner appointment this evening. I can only hope this doesn't happen in the middle of the meal."

"Why don't you go on home?" Christian offered. "After the barrage we had this morning, it's simply died, and I have only this repair to make. Julianne and Jonathan should be back before too long in any case."

Mateo smiled again and arose. "I might have enough time for a nap," he agreed. "They help sometimes. Thank you, Christian." He gathered his things and departed, nodding at Leslie on the way out and leaving the Enstads alone.

"Ah," Christian murmured with a wicked glint in his eye. "Finally, I have you right where I want you, and no witnesses."

"At least not till Julianne and Jonathan come back," she teased him, smirking, and he rolled his eyes before they both laughed. "Besides, I thought you were fixing this thing."

"I was," Christian said, peering at the tower sitting on the desk, "but the owner isn't in a hurry for it, so I've thought I should close up shop once the quads get back here. Mostly that's for Anna-Kristina. I'm worried about her."

"Did she seem that bad, my love?" Leslie asked.

Christian sighed. "She said she doesn't want to see anyone, and mentioned something about sleeping her life away. I don't want her sinking into the sort of depression her mother's in. Kristina's in very bad shape, and the family expects her to join Arnulf in the grave any day whenever she's at her worst. I've never seen anyone die from loss of hope, as she seems to be doing. I can recall the earliest days of hers and Arnulf's courtship and then their marriage. She was always in awe of him, very much in love with him—sometimes to the point of worship. She deferred to him in everything. It's little wonder she retreated into near-isolation after his death, and in all honesty I'm surprised she's survived him by this much time. Anna-Kristina is most like her in emotional temperament. Briella and Margareta are much stronger, but Anna-Kristina was rather spoiled—she was the first girl directly in line for the throne in some six generations. So Arnulf and Kristina indulged her, and now she's paying the price for it."

"Poor girl," Leslie murmured and rested her head on his shoulder. "No wonder she's always running to you. She doesn't have the strength to stand on her own."

"She does need someone," Christian said, "but it can't be me, not for the rest of her life. It's only that…" He shook his head slowly. "I'm not sure she'll ever find someone who's able to shoulder the emotional burden she'll saddle him with. Any man who falls for her must be strong enough for them both." He kissed the top of her head. "The only one whose emotional peaks and valleys I care to bother with is you, and you've always been stronger than she has in any case."

"Then," Leslie teased him, "why are you always begging me not to cry when I need to? Sometimes I have to…it's a girl thing."

Christian grinned. "Oh, I know I carry on about it, but the truth is, it hurts me almost as much as you when you cry. It means you're in pain, and it's the last thing I want for you, my darling. I'm used to Anna-Kristina's tears, because they've always been so frequent. I love her because she's my niece—but I love you because you're the light of my entire life, and that makes all the difference." With that he kissed her.

Several minutes later they broke apart, breathing hard, eyes half open, lips mere millimeters away from each other. "Don't wait for Julianne and Jonathan…let's go home now," Leslie begged, grazing his lips with hers.

Christian moaned softly, lost himself in another kiss, then pulled back a little and breathed, "We won't be alone there, my Rose…"

"Oh, God…you had to remind me," she muttered, and Christian chuckled ruefully, hugging her close and closing his eyes. They stood for a few minutes gathering their composure; then, about to release each other, they heard the bell jingle and looked around to see that Julianne and Jonathan had returned.

"Hi, Miss Leslie," they said in unison, taking in the Enstads' embrace. Jonathan got a devilish look about him and added, "Were you planning on going home?"

"Jonathan Ichino, ever since you started talking, you've been the most irreverent little demon," Leslie scolded him, making his grin get bigger. "You really are a brat. How old are you again, by the way?"

"I don't know about him," Julianne said with an arch look at her brother, "but I'm almost 24. My parents keep insisting he was born the same day as me and Jennette and Jeremy, and half the time I'm not sure whether I ought to believe it."

"You shouldn't," Leslie said tartly, and both quads burst out laughing. Christian, too, chuckled, patting Leslie's back.

"Actually, Jonathan, we had been planning to return home," he said. "My niece isn't holding up well, and it's been quiet all afternoon. If you two are finished, we can all leave now; otherwise, Jonathan, go ahead and lock up behind you."

"We're done," Julianne said. "I'd rather be, after what happened at the plantation. I spent two hours fixing their computers and hearing smart remarks from some of the workers there. Jonathan was that close to decking one of them, but I told him not to, because they're all way bigger around than he is. I think those guys are all former linebackers or weight lifters…or maybe sumo wrestlers."

"None of them was Japanese," Jonathan reminded her.

Julianne snorted. "That has nothing to do with it! Haven't you ever heard of that redheaded Hawaiian guy who moved to Japan and became a sumo wrestler?" She noticed Christian and Leslie standing there listening in amused bewilderment and grinned a little sheepishly. "Yeah, Miss Leslie, we still have arguments like this."

Leslie burst into laughter. "You guys'll never change. Okay, enough already…let's get out of here, my love." Christian laughed agreement and removed a few things from his desk drawer; then he and Leslie bid the two quads farewell and left.

As Leslie pulled onto the Ring Road to head for home, Christian looked at her blankly and asked, "What did Julianne mean by 'arguments like this'?"

She laughed again. "All four quads had a way of getting into loud, aimless debates. They'd start off on one subject, bicker about that long enough for everybody to get in at least one comment, then one of them would make some semi-related observation and the fight would go off in another direction…and then another, and another, till eventually they'd be carrying on about something completely unrelated to the original topic. Moreover, by then they'd forgotten the original topic altogether. This started when they were around three or four years old, and they kept it up right through to when I married Teppo and left the island. When I was widowed and came back, and got reacquainted with them, they were still doing it. The only difference was that their arguments lasted about three times as long as they used to."

"_Herregud,"_ said Christian, laughing. "In that case, it's probably as well that Jeremy and Jennette are off-island. No, wait…Jeremy's back, isn't he? I recall Jonathan mentioning it just before Christmas, that Jeremy's job as a roadie with some rock band had finally ended and he was returning here."

"Julianne told me that too, back in November sometime," Leslie recalled. "Out of the four of them, I think he's the most aimless. He's always balked at taking conventional jobs, and last time I talked with Camille she said he's contacting the managers of bands all over the place, trying to get in on somebody's next tour."

"What a life," Christian said, shaking his head. "I suppose if he's going to do that sort of thing, he should do it now while he's still young. One day he'll have to give it up."

They chatted easily all the way home, sobering when they crossed the yard and let themselves into the house. The lower level was deserted, but they both heard water running upstairs. "It sounds like she's showering," said Christian. "Good—it means she did what I told her to do. We have some time. What do you want to do?"

She gave him a thoughtful look and smiled wistfully. "I did have an idea, but we don't know how long it's been since she started her shower…"

Christian laughed softly. "It doesn't take much for you to convince me. I'll take all possible advantage of whatever time we have." He drew her in and kissed her again, and in a few minutes they'd lost themselves to everything around them. As a result, they were still wrapped up in each other when Anna-Kristina appeared, her hair still wet, but dressed in everything except shoes.

"Well, you two haven't changed," she commented.

Christian and Leslie slowly broke from each other and blinked at her, trying to force themselves back to alertness. "That's comforting, I suppose," Christian said.

"Depending on whether you mean it in a good or bad way," Leslie added.

Anna-Kristina smiled sadly. "I don't want you to change," she said, her voice thickening a little as she spoke. "I want to believe that some couples love each other for who they are and not what they…" She closed her eyes and let her head droop.

Christian and Leslie reached out simultaneously and laid a hand on each of her shoulders; Christian squeezed gently. "Tell us if you need some help, _Kattersprinsessan_," he said gently. "We'll do what we can for you. But I still think it's best for you if you get out, if you don't let yourself hide. It can become a bad habit very quickly."

"Did you update the website, my love?" Leslie asked.

"_Usch_, that's what I forgot," muttered Christian. "I knew it was something. Anna-Kristina, Leslie and I are going up to change, and I'll handle the announcements on the site, and then we may as well leave. There should be a hair dryer in the bathroom down here, so go ahead and help yourself. We'll be down soon." He patted his niece's shoulder, then took Leslie's hand and led her upstairs.


	5. Chapter 5

§ § § -- February 12, 2003

On their way to the main house Anna-Kristina, sitting in the middle seat of the car, fell silent and said nothing all the way; Christian and Leslie didn't talk much either, but cast each other the occasional concerned glance. At the house Christian had to reach in and take Anna-Kristina's hand. "Come on, we're here," he said.

Listlessly Anna-Kristina slid out of the seat and followed him and Leslie across the porch and into the study. Roarke looked up when they came in and smiled in greeting. "Welcome back to the island, Anna-Kristina," he said warmly, and the princess offered him a wan return smile. "It will be about half an hour before the meal is ready. Why don't you sit down for a while and relax? Is there anything you'd like?"

"We're all set, Father," said Leslie. "Did you talk to Jeremy Ichino?"

Roarke chuckled and said, "I did indeed. I actually have a driver's position open, but he really wasn't interested. The young man seems to have his head in the clouds. His parents have no doubt despaired of him thoroughly by now."

Leslie caught Christian's expression and laughed. "Mrs. Ichino sent him over here this morning while Father was out and I was going through mail. He asked if we had anything open, but he wasn't the least bit enthusiastic. In fact, he asked if he could check his e-mail while he was here, in case he'd heard back from any band managers."

"As incorrigible as I was at that age, from all indications," Christian remarked with amusement. "Is that his ultimate goal in life, to be a roadie?"

Anna-Kristina looked up in surprise. "What's a roadie?" she asked. Grateful for any animation from her, Christian and Leslie took turns explaining the word; she cracked a smile when they were finished and said, "I think I'd like to meet him. He sounds like quite an adventurer to me."

"He'd be a bad influence on you, most likely," Christian retorted good-naturedly. "I don't think your sister would forgive me for letting you fall into Jeremy's company."

"Ah, but she might well be a good influence on Jeremy," Roarke pointed out in the same spirit, and they all laughed. He glanced at the grandfather clock. "I think we might go out to the table now and wait out there."

He led the way out, with Christian and Leslie behind him holding hands, and Anna-Kristina trailing her aunt and uncle. Halfway across the veranda, Christian and Leslie saw who was at the table and looked at each other in astonishment, but managed not to say anything; a moment later, as they split up to go to their chairs, Anna-Kristina saw their guest as well and froze, her blue eyes wide with shock—exactly mirroring Mateo's dark ones.

Leslie found her voice first. "Hi, Mateo, glad you could join us."

"Yes…" Mateo murmured, staring at Anna-Kristina. "Uh…"

"Mr. Roarke, you didn't tell Uncle Christian or Aunt Leslie…" Anna-Kristina began, barely able to tear her gaze from Mateo's long enough to address Roarke.

"No, we didn't know," Christian said, snapping himself back to the moment and pulling out Leslie's chair for her before taking his own. "Sit down, Anna-Kristina, for heaven's sake. It won't be very comfortable for you, eating standing up."

The princess sank into her chair in slow motion; she and Mateo were still staring at each other, and both were beginning to turn red. Leslie and Christian looked uneasily at each other; only Roarke seemed composed. "Mariki should be out any moment," he said serenely. "I hope everyone likes Asian food. I'm told we're to have gingered shrimp and soba, Japanese sesame spinach, and shiitake miso soup."

Anna-Kristina looked completely blank; Mateo smiled slightly. "It sounds like an adventure, Mr. Roarke," he said gamely.

"Very exotic," agreed Leslie. "Christian, you said you had miso soup once?"

"Not with shiitake mushrooms," he said and grinned. "As Mateo said, it'll be an adventure. After all that, I hope dessert is something simple."

They all laughed, even Anna-Kristina this time. "As a matter of fact, I understand it will be ginger peach crumble," Roarke remarked, "so it appears that Mariki is either trying to impress our royal contingent, or merely showing off." This time the laughter was genuine and hearty, and everyone finally relaxed, though it was plain as the meal was served and progressed that Mateo and Anna-Kristina were quite shy with each other. They spoke to everyone except each other, but now and then one would slant the other a glance across the table when the other wasn't looking. By the time the ginger peach crumble had been eaten, they were all pleasantly full, and their conversation continued a little longer while Mariki began to clear plates and serving dishes.

Then Roarke smiled apologetically. "I don't mean to run," he said, "but there actually is an island council meeting this evening, and I've been asked to attend. I do hope everyone enjoyed the meal."

"It was delicious," Christian said. "If Mariki has leftovers this time around, Leslie and I will be more than happy to take them home with us."

"She always has leftovers," Leslie remarked, grinning. "At the moment, though, I really couldn't eat another bite. Christian, my love, maybe you and I ought to walk off some of this meal, so we don't wind up waddling home."

"A good idea," Christian said, and he and Leslie arose along with Roarke.

"Stay if you wish, Mateo and Anna-Kristina," Roarke invited. "You need not feel in any hurry to leave just because I must meet an appointment. Please excuse me, and good evening to all of you." He departed with their return sentiments.

"I think I should walk off this meal too," Anna-Kristina murmured, half rising, with an obvious mind to follow her aunt and uncle.

"I wish you would stay," Mateo said softly, to everyone's total amazement.

Anna-Kristina froze in mid-rise, and Christian and Leslie took quick advantage of her surprise to steal away across the veranda and down the steps. In the yard beside the house, they looked at each other. "Do you think there's any chance?" Leslie murmured.

Christian shrugged. "I don't know," he said softly, "and in all honesty, I suspect Mr. Roarke knows something we don't, if he arranged things so that Mateo would be having dinner with the rest of us. Maybe the attraction between him and that niece of mine is still alive after all." He sighed heavily and then remarked, "All I know for certain is that I'm glad you and I are long past all that!"

"Brother, you said it all right," Leslie agreed wholeheartedly, and they laughed softly, then gave in to temptation and kissed each other deeply.

On the porch, Anna-Kristina took in the hopeful look on Mateo's face and very slowly resumed her seat. "Are you very sure you want me to remain here?" she asked.

He swallowed and hung his head, shaking it a little. "If you want to go…" he said.

"No, I don't want to," Anna-Kristina replied, regarding him warily. "I just didn't know you wanted me to stay. Did you know I was here, then?"

"I did," Mateo admitted, looking up. "But I didn't realize Mr. Roarke had planned to invite you and Christian and Miss Leslie to dinner. I simply thought it would be a pleasant evening…and it was much more so with you here."

They looked at each other, she very guarded, he about as open as he could ever get; and for a moment it seemed as if there was nothing more to say. Then she ventured, "You know, I suppose, that I was engaged to Prince Carlono."

"I also heard that you broke it off," Mateo replied. "I have some idea of why, but my only real question here is…did you truly love him, Anna-Kristina?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "I tried to love him," she admitted, her defenses crumbling. It was simply impossible for her to hide her emotions. "I tried very hard. I thought I could learn to love him. But I never managed it. He was always kind and attentive…perhaps he was too attentive. He asked me ten times to marry him before I finally gave in and accepted. And then I found out…" She stopped and looked away, the tears overflowing.

"Did he reject you?" Mateo asked, very gently.

"No…I rejected him," Anna-Kristina said starkly. "I had to do it. I can never become a mother. I'm sterile, Mateo—I can't bear children." Mateo said nothing, and she closed her eyes, though it did nothing to stem the flow of tears. "I'm flawed. I knew that as soon as he found out, he would break off everything and I would be left alone, always."

Mateo stared at her, amazed. "Do you mean to say that no man will ever want you simply because you can't bear children?" She nodded, and he sighed. "Then," he said with deliberation, "you insult me."

Anna-Kristina's head cranked sharply around and her eyes flew open. "What do you mean?" she demanded. "I didn't say anything to insult you!"

"Yes, you did," Mateo told her firmly. "I'm a man, and you suggest that I'd reject you because you can't have a baby. I thought you loved me once, Anna-Kristina. Was I wrong?"

He sat and watched her begin to break down. "No…" she moaned.

Mateo leaned forward and studied her intensely. "If you're flawed, then what about me, with my limp and my narcolepsy?" She had no response to that, just sat there gaping at him with her eyes streaming and her body shaking with the sobs she was trying to hold back. "It was the reason I turned you away two years ago. You're a princess and I'm only a commoner, with little in his favor and those two strikes against him from the very start. I felt you deserved better than a lame man with an incurable condition. I still believe you do, but I've learned in these two years that I'm far too selfish to let you look for that better man. I've missed you in all that time, my Anna-Kristina. When you left, and I saw you being courted by that prince, I told myself that's what you should have had all along…only the best for you. But I fell in love with you even though I told myself not to. And to this day I love you, more than I ever thought I could."

Anna-Kristina began to bawl, and he pushed himself out of his chair and came around to hers, pulling her to her feet and into his arms. "Tell me what you feel," he said, cradling her close and smiling faintly to himself when she wrapped her arms tightly around him and sobbed into his shoulder. "Let the storm pass a little, and tell me what you feel."

It took her a few minutes to regain enough equilibrium to speak. "I thought you…I was certain you thought I was a stupid little child who knew nothing, who was good for nothing more than being a decoration on a prince's arm. I tried to love Carlono, but I never succeeded, because I've always been so in love with you, Mateo! When Carlono kissed me I pretended it was you. Once I accidentally called him by your name, and he was furious. I hoped then that he would give up, but he simply forgave me and came back again and again, with more gifts and more marriage proposals and more talk of children…" She choked on a fresh sob and he rubbed her back in circles. "Then Briella found out she was sterile because of amakarna—the spice my sisters and I have had to take all our lives. It's reacted with something in our DNA and made us barren, all three of us—Briella insisted that our sister Margareta and I find out if we too were affected. When I learned that I was, I immediately called Carlono and broke the engagement, before he could find out and become angry with me again. It was only an excuse, but such a good one. I knew he would never want me. He intends to be a father, and I can never provide him with the children he wants."

"Then he was wrong for you," Mateo said simply. "He may have courted you, done all the things that a man supposedly should do to win a woman's heart, but I don't think he was truly in love with you. He merely thought you suited because you're both royalty."

"But you…" Anna-Kristina cried, staring up at him. "What about you?"

"Above all else, my Anna-Kristina, I love you," he said firmly. "I love you because you're so open and naïve and sweet, so guileless. You can't hide anything you feel. It intrigues me, because I've never been able to be so free with my emotions. You fascinate me, and I want to spend the rest of my life discovering all I can about you. I want you to marry me, even though I still think you deserve better than me."

"There isn't anyone better for me than you," Anna-Kristina told him flatly. "It's just as simple as that. But you must have dreamed of…"

"Having children?" Mateo filled in, smiling slightly at her. "No. If I were to father a child, that child might inherit my narcolepsy, and I don't want that to happen. Before you protest any more, you'd better tell me once and for all what you feel. You're beginning to make me think I've gone to all this effort for nothing."

She tightened her hold on him. "I love you," she said, softly but fervently. "I fell in love with you that very day we ate lunch together in Uncle Christian's office. I didn't care if you had a limp or that disease. But then you turned me away, and it hurt me so badly that I reacted the only way I could…I agreed with you that I should find another, and walked away from you. But I wanted to scream and cry all the way. I knew I would always love you and no one else, even when I tried to convince myself that I could love Carlono. I've always been in love with you, from that first moment." Her eyes welled up again. "Do you love me, truly? I'm afraid I'm dreaming, standing here in your arms and hearing those words…"

"I love you," he said again, smiled fully, and caught one of her tears on his fingertip. "I love you, my Anna-Kristina, always. Will you marry me?"

"Even though I can't give you a child…?" she persisted.

"Yes, even though you can't, because as I said, I don't want to pass this disease down to the next generation. My Anna-Kristina, if we must have children, we can adopt them. We'll fill our home with as many as we have room for. But we can't do any of that unless you answer my question. Now, will you marry me?"

"Yes," Anna-Kristina breathed, her eyes shining through the last of her tears. "Mateo, my heart, I love you so…" He bent his head and kissed her, tentatively at first; then, when she responded, he crushed her against him and deepened the kiss in an attempt to express his feelings for her. She curled one arm around his neck and gladly surrendered.

Meandering back down the lane from their walk, Christian and Leslie spotted them on the porch, tangled in each other's arms, and stopped short. "Whatever Father had in mind," Leslie breathed, "it worked!" She turned wide, wondering eyes on her husband.

"So it did," Christian said and smiled at her. He gathered her in against him and let his gaze stray back to the couple on the veranda. "In fact, unless I'm very much off the mark, I have a feeling you and I may be alone in our house tonight after all." He grinned and winked at her, and she giggled and hugged him.


	6. Chapter 6

§ § § -- February 13, 2003

Christian was just dropping off Leslie at the main house, about to leave the study and head for work, when the door opened and Mateo and Anna-Kristina entered, each with an arm around the other and both radiant. Roarke looked up, and Christian and Leslie both grinned widely. "Good morning," Roarke said.

Mateo smiled, more animated than any of them had ever seen him. "Good morning, Mr. Roarke," he said. "We've come to ask you a very large favor. Anna-Kristina here has done me the great honor of accepting my proposal of marriage, and we've agreed we don't want to wait any longer than we absolutely must. But she has a few matters to resolve in her native country, and we are preparing to fly back there, together."

"I see," said Roarke, "and you need passes to return…"

"More than that," said Mateo sheepishly. "I need a passport. I've never had reason to leave the island before this, and I was completely unprepared. I admit to being in a great hurry, but I won't ask you to put this at a top priority…only when you can find the time for it. I need to have the photo taken in any case." He looked at Christian, still with that sheepish expression, while Anna-Kristina watched him adoringly. "How much vacation time do I have, Christian? I apologize that it's such short notice."

Christian chuckled. "I think it's for a very good cause. My records tell me you haven't taken time off since I first hired you, which was nearly three years ago. At that rate, you could remain in Lilla Jordsö with Anna-Kristina until summer arrives." They all laughed, and Mateo reddened, squeezing Anna-Kristina.

"What plans do you have after your wedding?" Roarke inquired.

"We're coming back to Fantasy Island to make our home," Anna-Kristina said and caught Christian's look of exaggerated horror. "That's right, Uncle Christian, you'll see more of me than you ever wanted to." That brought on more laughter. "So that's the reason we need passes and Mateo must have a passport, Mr. Roarke. I have to file documents so that I can give up my title of princess. And we have to plan our wedding, of course, which I can do from Lilla Jordsö. Uncle Christian, I think you'll have to update the family site again."

"It seems so," Christian agreed, chuckling. "It also occurs to me that you'll be just the fourth royal to give up the title…and that you and I are likely to become somewhat larger footnotes in _jordisk_ history for being the closest-related royals to relinquish the status."

"If you were the third and she's the fourth, who were the first two?" Leslie asked.

"Ah…if I remember correctly, the first was somewhere back in the fifteenth century, and it was quite a violent little episode. We had one King Axel in the middle of the 1400s, whose younger sister was abducted right off the cliff where the castle sits—by a band of marauders from either Spain or Portugal, I forget which. When Axel demanded her back, not only did the marauders refuse to return her, she herself announced that she didn't want to come back, since she'd fallen in love with their captain. Her name was lost to history. The second one was in the early 1700s. It was very much a 'Wallis Simpson' affair—we would have had a Queen Maria, except that the princess who should have taken the throne made an official trip to what were then the American colonies and simply fell in love with the place—along with a Massachusetts merchant. She immediately abdicated the succession, which went to her younger brother. That's how we got King Erik number ten." They all laughed, and then he smirked. "You'll notice that all the others who gave up the status were princesses. I'm still another notable in _jordisk_ history for being the only prince who ever did so."

"Oh my," said Leslie with a comical flutter. "I'm so privileged."

"You certainly are," Christian teased back smugly. Amid the merriment, he turned to Mateo and shook his hand. "Both of you are to be congratulated, and quite frankly, Mateo, I hope you know what you've let yourself in for. Your fiancée here was supposed to take the throne, and dumped it in her sister's lap a number of years back. She was the first girl in six generations who would have become the ruling monarch, and as such, she was quite spoiled as she grew up. You'd better brace yourself for temper tantrums, and histrionics, and imperial demands, and…"

"Uncle Christian!" squawked Anna-Kristina indignantly.

Mateo grinned and hugged her. "She'll add life to my home, Christian," he said. "A great deal of it. It's what was always missing in my existence. I'll even withstand the imperial demands, as long as she never stops loving me."

"I strongly suspect you two will have as long and happy a marriage as Christian and Leslie do," Roarke said, removing two charter-plane passes from a desk drawer. "Mateo, if you can have the passport photo taken today, I'll have it ready for you in the morning."

"I can do that during lunch," Mateo said, accepting the passes. "Thank you, Mr. Roarke, and again, I apologize for the short notice."

Roarke waved him off. "It's no bother at all. I wish you both much happiness."

"And never mind lunch," Christian put in. "You have more to do than just getting a passport photo taken, so you may as well begin your vacation now. And as to you, _Kattersprinsessan_, what are you going to do with yourself when you're no longer a princess and you and Mateo are man and wife? Have you given that any thought?"

"I still have my secretarial skills," Anna-Kristina told him. "There must be some place on this island that might need me. But we have time to think about it. You need to make those changes to the site. And did Briella announce who will take the throne after her?"

"Yes," Christian said, "the succession is going to Gerhard and Liselotta's son. So our next ruler will be King Matteus, and if I recall correctly he'll be the second of that name. As long as it's not another Erik, that suits me fine." Leslie snickered and Anna-Kristina rolled her eyes at him, making him grin.

Mateo's passport was ready by that evening, and Anna-Kristina came home with Christian and Leslie to pack her bags for the trip home. Christian, surveying the jumbled mess that filled his niece's suitcases, shook his head. "Does Mateo know you're like this?" he asked, half seriously. "I can see you packed your own suitcases to come out here."

Anna-Kristina gave him a dirty look. "Mateo loves me," she said firmly.

"But does he know everything he has to know?" Christian persisted. "I don't mean about the fact that you're a princess whose entire upbringing revolved around getting you ready to assume the throne, rather than doing something practical as your cousins were forced to do. I mean that you wear your heart on your sleeve all the time, that you're not domestically inclined, and that you're used to the trappings and privileges of royalty. You can't even bring your cats out here, you know."

"I have only two cats left, and they're very old now," said Anna-Kristina without looking at him, clearly sidestepping the other issues.

Leslie settled down on the futon and started folding the articles of clothing that Anna-Kristina had tossed onto the mattress. "Honey, what Christian means is that you're seeing the romantic possibilities of life with Mateo, and not the practicalities. I bet you'd be shocked to find out that Christian and I do have our arguments. We worry about money, just like any other couple. We try as best we can to make them discussions, but sometimes emotions get in the way and we wind up raising our voices at each other. In fact," she said with a sheepish glance at her grinning husband, "we had another one last evening while you were with Mateo. We were trying to decide if that Santi Arcuros branch is really financially feasible, especially at the same time as a London branch."

"And you had a fight about it?" asked Anna-Kristina, her eyes very wide.

"It didn't quite make it to 'fight' status," Christian said, chuckling, "mainly because I could see that trying to open two branches simultaneously would stretch me too thin. Santi Arcuros will have to wait till the dust settles from the London project and we're sure it's doing well. But we are definitely going on with the London location. I know from the Sundborg branch that we get quite a few British tourists as customers, so I think we'd do well in their home country. And Leslie brought up the idea that I shouldn't shortchange North Americans, so that's a thought as well." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, that's not the issue here. You're so certain right now that you'll be happy giving up the title of princess and settling down on the other side of the world from the home and the life you've always known. You're in the throes of love for Mateo, especially now that you've just discovered your feelings for each other—that's what's driving you at the moment. When you and Mateo disappeared last night, what did you talk about?"

"Talk?" said Anna-Kristina blankly. Christian dropped his forehead into his hand, and Leslie burst out laughing.

"Really, my love, you couldn't expect them to talk about anything at this stage," she said merrily, patting his arm. She turned to the princess and went on, "I think you and Mateo should use the trip to Lilla Jordsö as a time to talk things out. You can think of it as making plans, laying the groundwork for your future together and what your lives will probably be like when the wedding and the honeymoon are over and you have to get down to the business of simply living together. You'll always love each other, Anna-Kristina, but it's not red roses and champagne every day. For one thing," she added with a grin in Christian's direction, "they're too darn expensive." Christian returned her grin and sat beside her. Folding another dress, Leslie continued, "It really runs the gamut, Anna-Kristina. It covers everything from money issues—joint or separate bank accounts, budgets, who pays which bills—to daily schedules to the stuff you find you do or don't have in common. Maybe you and Mateo will love all the same foods or find out that everything one of you likes, the other hates…or one will be addicted to a TV show that the other thinks is the worst piece of trash ever aired. You could wind up a sports widow if Mateo's hooked on football in the fall and winter, or he could take exception to your wish to adopt some more cats—atop which, he might be allergic to them. You see what I mean?"

"Did you and Uncle Christian talk about all that?" Anna-Kristina asked, looking daunted for the first time. "I mean…I never thought about these things."

"I can tell you one thing," Christian said. "You're definitely going to have to give up some things that you've taken for granted all your life—primarily your clothing collection. I wish I could be there to see the expression on Mateo's face when he gets a look at your closets in the castle. To answer your question, Leslie and I had more than four years apart to learn all these things about each other. We asked question after question throughout those days, e-mailing each other every day we could, except when your father forced me out on those damned trips. We had all that time to learn more and more about each other, and I suppose we were quite lucky to find that the differences merely intrigued us about each other, and the similarities were numerous enough and on a basic-enough level that we were certain of our compatibility. You and Mateo are leaping right into this, and you barely know each other—if you dare tell me you and he were secretly in touch during those two years you were being chased by Carlono, I'll make you regret lying to me." He winked and she stuck out her tongue at him; Leslie giggled and began packing folded garments into the suitcase. "So, yes, Leslie's right. It's going to be a very long trip back to Lilla Jordsö from here, and the best thing you and Mateo can do is talk about all these things and more. If one of you thinks of some issue, then for heaven's sake, bring it up, so that you can work it out right then and there, and it doesn't become the foundation for fights and resentment in the future. Ask him how he feels about cats and all your clothes, and if he asks you how you feel about this or that, tell him the truth. Don't lie to him for the sake of preserving the peace, or else you'll regret it one day when the truth accidentally comes out. Now do you understand all that, or am I going to have to repeat it all in _jordiska?"_

"I do speak English," Anna-Kristina assured him dryly, "and since you were the one who was largely responsible for my level of fluency, then it would be your fault if I didn't understand all that." Leslie laughed again and Christian chuckled in good-natured acknowledgement. "But you're both right. We do have to talk. I just didn't realize there would be so much we'd have to talk about. At least it'll help all the flights to go faster. And poor Mateo with his leg…I hope he won't have trouble with it."

"Well, make sure he has the chance to walk on it regularly so it doesn't stiffen up," suggested Christian, who due to working with Mateo each day was reasonably familiar with Mateo's routine. "He tries to move around the office as much as he has reason to during the day, to keep the retrained muscles working properly, and he walks to and from work every day as well. But don't let him overdo it. If you have long hikes between airport gates, take one of those shuttles they have for the elderly and disabled. And don't let him argue with you about it if he tries. You say you can accept him with a limp, but you still have to work around it."

"If you can accommodate it without calling attention to it," said Leslie, "that's ideal. I don't think you need to worry about it too much. Mateo's pretty much accepted it, from all I've ever seen, and if you're willing to make the necessary concessions, then you two should be just fine." She leaned back into Christian's embrace and regarded the princess. "There's just one more thing you should know. No matter how much talking you two do, no matter how long you spend laying your souls bare to each other, you'll still have to get used to each other, and that takes time. So be patient with yourselves and each other, and you'll make it together with no trouble at all."

Anna-Kristina smiled faintly. "Who told you two all this, that you're so wise?"

Christian and Leslie looked at each other and both laughed. "Mostly experience," Christian said, fully wrapping his arms around Leslie. "Don't forget, both of us were married before we found each other. I learned from Johanna what I definitely didn't want in a wife, and I learned the real ins and outs of sharing space with another person while Marina and I were stuck together."

"Right," Leslie said, "and while I was married to Teppo, I found out the same things about living with another person, plus how to deal with quirks and eccentricities and weird little habits. Everybody's got those. Christian has his, I have mine, and you and Mateo have yours too. The trick is learning to live with them and put them in their proper perspective, so they don't turn into something they don't deserve to be."

"Don't tell me you never fight about those little things," Anna-Kristina said, eyeing them both with enormous skepticism.

Christian gave her a look. "Would you like to hear about the time I was moving the box with Leslie's doll collection into this house, and dropped it? You should have seen the tantrum she threw."

"_Mormor_'s doll was in there!" Leslie protested indignantly.

"But it didn't break," he shot back. "You'd think I had set a match to it. Didn't I let you borrow my ship model once for some fantasy? You didn't see me having histrionics."

"I didn't drop it," Leslie retorted, and they paused long enough to look at each other before both beginning to snicker. "Hey, don't forget, I apologized to you later on for going up in flames about that box. After all, it was just an accident."

"Exactly so," said Christian and kissed her soundly. "And that's true, you didn't drop the model. You know I'm just teasing you, my Rose…it was only an example for Anna-Kristina. You see, _Kattersprinsessan_…that's the whole secret. Acceptance and apologies." He gave Leslie a last squeeze and released her, arising to go and turn on the television. "Let's see if there's anything worth hearing about on the news."

Leslie and Anna-Kristina finished packing suitcases while Christian settled into his usual spot on the sofa, making himself comfortable. "Where does this newscast come from, then?" the princess asked curiously.

"Most of our TV comes from Hawaii via satellite," Leslie told her. "We have a very small TV station here that used to have to handle everything from three American networks back in the 70s, and I remember writing a letter to the programming director when I was fifteen, asking him why the heck he was airing some soap opera called 'Secrets of Midland Heights' on Saturday nights when it should have been 'King's Castle'. See, they had to decide what shows to air from what networks…"

"And," Christian interjected from the sofa, "since it was Mr. Roarke's ward demanding her favorite television series, they simply had to give in."

"You rogue," Leslie said, making him laugh. "But honestly, I was surprised when I not only got a letter back, but they actually did start airing 'King's Castle'. Anyway, they did it that way because this is supposed to be a vacation resort, and you really shouldn't be watching TV on vacation. But some guests complained, so we finally had cable hooked up in early 1981, and then when satellite TV came in, we got that. Americans do like their TV."

Anna-Kristina grinned. "So do our people! We have a lot of American shows, and I even remember watching 'King's Castle' as a child…along with Uncle Christian."

"Tattletale," said Christian, and Anna-Kristina and Leslie both laughed.

"What should we have for supper?" Anna-Kristina wondered, settling into a chair.

"Go help Leslie," Christian said sternly. "If you're going to be married to Mateo, and live here on the island, you'll have to learn to cook."

Looking abashed, Anna-Kristina jumped up and trailed Leslie to the kitchen, though she did stick her head out the passthrough and say accusingly, "What about you, Uncle Christian? Does Aunt Leslie ever yell at you for not cooking?"

"No, he does his share," Leslie said with a laugh. "It's just that tonight it's my turn. I think we could go with Italian…I'll throw some spaghetti together, and I think you could handle a salad, Anna-Kristina."

While they were in the kitchen and Anna-Kristina was trying to assemble the salad, they suddenly heard the TV volume go up a couple of notches. "This might interest you, _Kattersprinsessan,"_ Christian called, and both Anna-Kristina and Leslie came to the passthrough to see what had caught his attention.

"…_In other celebrity news,"_ said the announcer on the screen, _"on the very same day that actress Toni Karlsen's daughter Justine has announced her engagement, Prince Carlono of Arcolos has confirmed that his engagement to Princess Anna-Kristina of Lilla Jordsö has been broken. The official website of Lilla Jordsö's royal family also confirms this, and further announces that the princess is now engaged to Fantasy Island resident Mateo Apana. There were no details about the wedding, although the site does say that Anna-Kristina intends to give up her title and live on Fantasy Island with her husband—just like her uncle, the former Prince Christian, who now resides there with his wife Leslie. This may or may not have been in reaction to the news, but just this afternoon Carlono was seen in Sundborg with Princess Margareta."_

"_Herregud!"_ Anna-Kristina exclaimed.

Christian began to laugh. "It seems Carlono's determined to snag an Enstad princess, no matter what. I wonder if he realizes Margareta can't have children either."

"That'll be interesting to find out," Leslie agreed, grinning. "Who needs TV soaps when you can live in one?" Christian rolled his eyes, still laughing, and she turned to his niece. "Are you okay?"

Anna-Kristina burst into giggles. "I don't care," she said giddily. "If Margareta wants him, he's all hers. I already have the man I want."


	7. Chapter 7

§ § § -- March 3, 2003

"Those two didn't waste a minute," Christian murmured to Leslie. They had just arrived at the small church on the edge of Amberville, waiting for the arrival of the bride, who had insisted on making an entrance. "A mere two weeks after the engagement, now they're being married. And it seems that my niece is making the most of being a princess while she still holds the title. So very Anna-Kristina."

Leslie grinned. "It is that," she agreed. "But I have a funny feeling Mateo'll be a good influence on her. Besides, think of it like this. When she has a big problem, she'll go running to Mateo and that'll let you off the hook from now on."

Christian gave her a long look and finally said, "I feel very sorry for the poor man." At which Leslie exploded with laughter, setting off Christian, who hugged her. "Honestly, if he really doesn't mind, then more power to him. I can only hope they had all those talks we told her they should have, the night before they flew to Lilla Jordsö."

"Oh, I imagine they did. Mateo's very sensible and grounded, and Anna-Kristina's too much in love with him to risk not having had them," Leslie said reasonably. "Oh…speaking of the groom, there he is now. See you at the altar, my love."

He grinned and kissed her. "Just a friendly word of warning, my Rose…Anna-Kristina is likely to be either very nervous, or very excited. You might try suggesting she present herself as a properly dignified princess. That'll hit her smack in her royal little soul." He winked and strolled to the door to meet Mateo, leaving Leslie laughing merrily.

Just about fifteen minutes later, Leslie—Anna-Kristina's matron of honor—led the procession down the aisle; the princess' bridesmaids were her sister Margareta and Julianne Ichino, with whom Anna-Kristina had made fast friends despite the seven-year difference in their ages. Christian, up front as Mateo's best man, winked at her again, and she grinned in response, taking her place opposite him and accepting Anna-Kristina's bouquet when the princess finally arrived in a cloud of white silk, lace and tulle. Mateo looked equally resplendent in his white tie and tails; but as the ceremony progressed, Leslie and Christian soon discovered they had eyes only for each other. Christian was clad in a classic black tuxedo, and Leslie wore the emerald-green silk-and-satin gown she'd bought in Lilla Jordsö when she and Christian had been there for Arnulf's funeral and Gabriella's coronation. Mateo's and Anna-Kristina's vows came in as a backdrop to their own regard of each other, and when Christian winked at her yet again and mouthed _I do_ at the same moment Mateo said it to Anna-Kristina, Leslie smiled. _I do too,_ she mouthed back, and Christian grinned.

The minister pronounced Mateo and Anna-Kristina husband and wife then, and the bride and groom indulged in a kiss that lasted long enough to make some of the younger people in the audience hoot teasingly at them. Christian and Leslie grinned at each other again, vividly remembering their own wedding day and sympathizing completely with the newlyweds. Leslie then caught the eye of Roarke, who sat in the front pew, and he smiled broadly. Finally Mateo and Anna-Kristina came apart, and amid showers of rice and rose petals, they headed back down the aisle to the waiting limo on the way to their honeymoon. They had decided to do something exotic and were going to New Zealand for a week to explore that country together.

Princess Margareta Enstad sidled up to her aunt and uncle and looked on after her sister and new brother-in-law. "So was she really in love with him for two years?" she asked of Christian, who nodded. "Even though she let Carlono chase her?"

"Yes, even then," Christian said. "She thought Mateo didn't love her then. It's a long story; you should ask her yourself. So tell me, are you letting Carlono chase you now?"

Margareta made a face. "That went nowhere at all. I saw no reason to be coy and told him directly that I can never have children. I've never seen anyone turn so white. He then pretended he had some urgent business that needed attending to back in Arcolos, and he was on the next flight out. He's such a playboy!"

"It seemed that he really wanted your sister, though," Leslie remarked.

Margareta shrugged. "He kept asking her to marry him, but I'm sure he would have broken the engagement himself if she hadn't done it first. I like Mateo; I think he'll be very good for Anna-Kristina. She'll finally start to learn all those things that she let the servants do for her all her life. If not, she'll have one very short marriage." She nodded decisively and wandered away.

Leslie stared at Christian in amazement. "Has she always been so blunt?"

"Certainly has," Christian said, grinning after his niece. "The complete opposite of Anna-Kristina." He turned to her and gathered her into his arms. "You did too, did you, then, my darling?"

"I did, and I still do," Leslie said, kissing him softly. "I do for the rest of my life. I love you, Christian, more than anything else in the world."

"I love you too, my cherished wife," he replied softly and then smiled. "And now that we have our house to ourselves again, let's see if your father will excuse us from the wedding reception. Mateo and Anna-Kristina will never know the difference." Leslie laughed agreement, and they turned to seek out Roarke.  
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_After all these "heavy" stories, I think we need a little humor, so the next two will hopefully hold some laughs. Next up: Some people are never satisfied with anything…_


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